Our Little Secret
by Yusuki Mazui
Summary: They had been the best of friends ever since the age of six. But they also shared an old secret only known to them and their guardians. What are the scheming senpai's going to do now after they found out about it? Will something happen to RyoSaku later on
1. What the Rubber band!

Yusuki: Cheese... here's a celebration of my born-day. My Beta, Pynkplayar helped me alot on this so thank her too. Anyways PynkPlayar, if you're reading this you're the BEST! Ryoma,

Ryoma: Hai... The characters of PoT and character moves (i.e: twist serve) is copyrighted by Konomi, Yusuki only wrote a story about it. Mada Mada Dane

* * *

The two children had their nap next to each other as their guardians talked about the 'good ol' days'. Rinko smiled at how cute the two children were. She took a picture of her peaceful son who fell asleep after making a promise with his new bestfriend-- a promise to visit her on his annual trips to Japan, and always wear her gift to him.

The two children's relationship slowly bloomed during their eight years together.

It was just another practise where the members of the boys tennis club challenge the team's regulars. Arai wanted to prove himself worthy to be a regular, challenging whom he thought was the weakest, the freshman regular Ryoma Echizen.

With indifference, Ryoma accepted the challenge. Not bothering to use his left hand, he started off with a twist serve. Arai, froze at the tremendous speed, unable to return the ball. Ryoma won the first game to love. It was finally Arai's service play, he served an over-hand ball, Ryoma returned it easily earning a return ace. Ryoma continued to earn service aces and return aces. It was finally the sixth game, score: 5- 0. It was once again Arai's service play and Ryoma's match point, Arai served the ball once more in hopes of getting a point. Ryoma, once again returned the ball easily. Arai, who thought of his next move thoroughly hit a lob. The super rookie executed a Drive B to counter Arai's lob

"Game. Set. Match. Ryoma Echizen: 6 games to love," Oishi stated as the Tennis Prince ended a practice match with Arai.

Ryoma turned his face to his pathethic senpai and told him, "Mada Mada Dane" as he put back his racket in his tennis bag. The super rookie then left the court. Sakuno handed him a cold grape ponta and congratulated him.

"Good job on your match, Ryoma-kun," She said.

"Thank you," he replied monotonely and quietly to his bestfriend.

Across the court, two certain regulars could not help but watch the cute pair.

"Nya~ have you ever noticed that Ochibi's really close to Sakuno-chan than other girls?" Eiji told Momo his little observation.

"Eh? You're right Eiji-senpai, maybe they're going out," Momo replied to the cat-like regular as he looked over at their Ochibi and the grandaughter of their coach.

After practice, Ryoma Echizen left the gates.

Momo caught up with him and offered, "Hey, Echizen, you want to eat some burgers? My treat."

Ryoma agreed non-chalantly.

"But first, you have to tell me why Ryuzaki-chan is so close too you," He continued.

"Why? " Ryoma asked as the two started to walk toward the burger place.

"What do you mean 'why'? Just answer my question Echizen," Momo retorted.

"Why would you care about us?" Ryoma answered him as they reached the counter.

The two ordered a few burger combos and a milkshake for each of them. They brang their trays towards an empty table and sat to eat.

"Hn, we've been bestfriends ever since I was four," Ryoma explained as he took another bite of the burger.

"Eh? You guys have been bestfriends ever since you were four and you never told me?! How did you guys meet?" Momo shouted at him, gaining the attention of most of the other costumers.

"Stupid Momo-senpai" Ryoma muttered, Pulling his cap, embarrassed to be seen with such a loud-mouthed person. He then soon answered, " We were playmates, 'cause my parents knew Coach Ryuzaki."

Momo listened intently at what the super rookie told him. Ryoma drank more of his milkshake. Momo noticed a small yellow rubberband wrapped around Ryoma's ring finger.

Curious, he asked, "Ne, Echizen, why do you have a rubberband around your ring finger?"

"It's none of your business, Momo-senpai," he answered monotonely as he drank some more and closed his eyes, avoiding to see his senpai.

"Oh, come on Echizen! Tell me!" he shouted again, getting annoyed glares from other costumers.

Ryoma finished, stood up then said, "Thanks for the food, see ya later, Momo-senpai."

He then left the burger joint.

**------------**

The part that Ryoma never told him about the rubberband had annoyed Momoshiro all night. Ryoma was his closest kouhai, if strangers were to get a glimpse at their friendship, they could've been mistaken for close brothers. There was no reason for Echizen not to tell him about that small yellow rubberband. As he ate his breakfast and headed to school, he decided that before this day or at least this week ends, he will find out why Echizen wears the rubberband. He saw Ryoma walking towards Seishun Gakuen, he cycled next to him.

"Good morning, Echizen!" He greeted him.

"Morning, Momo-senpai," Ryoma greeted back with his same dull tone, eyes forward and hands in his pockets.

"So, Echizen, care to tell me about that rubberband?" He asked his kouhai.

"Don't want to," Ryoma replied quickly.

They now entered the school building, put on their indoor shoes and started to walk to class.

"C'mon Echizen! I'm your favourite sempai, you should tell me about this. Why the heck do you have a rubberband around your finger?! Do you just like the numb feeling of it? Ryoma Echizen, I swear if you don't tell me about it, I will sneak to your house, get a photo album of you and post it all around the school! " he pleaded as Ryoma headed to his classroom.

Momoshiro dashed towards the cafeteria with the hope of finding Seigaku's super rookie. With no avail, he only found one of the regulars eating at their usual table. He took some food, paid for it and sat next to Eiji.

"Ne, Eiji-senpai, do you know where Echizen is?" Momo asked Eiji, who was eating anago sushi.

"Oh, hochibi musht be witch Shakuno-chan ah cha woof (Oh, ochibi must be with Sakuno-chan at the roof)," Eiji answered him with his mouth full of sushi.

It was useless, the regulars knew never to visit the roof where Ryoma had his peaceful lunch and nap ever since they accidentally ran into his half-asleep state and recieved a storm of hard serves from the prince. His hopes to find out about the rubberband just crashed and burned, he did not want to have so many bruises that he would be coloured purple. Therefore he decides to ask his partner on H.O.W.S (Hooking Ochibi With Sakuno) ever since they swore to each other that they will hook up the two.

"Ne, Eiji-senpai, why do you think Echizen has a rubberband around his finger?" he asked the red-head.

Eiji swallowed the sushi, thought for a while then answered.

"Nya~ may be he has it just in-case Sakuno's break?" he suggested.

"Yea, but Sakuno's hairties never break," Momo reasoned.

"May be he uses it to tie his hair!" Eiji suggested loudly.

They both imagined stoic Ryoma with a long flowing ponytail. They both laughed hysterically, then imagined their ochibi with cute girly pigtails. They laughed louder. Oishi came with a tray of food in his hand.

"Ne, what's so funny that you two attracted almost everyone's attention?" the vice-captain asked with some curiousity.

The two continued to laugh hysterically.

"Ochibi-hair-rubberband-ponytail," Eiji replied in between his loud laughs.

Momo, who recollected himself earlier finally talked, "Vice-captain, I asked Eiji-senpai why Echizen wears a rubberband around his finger. He replied that Echizen uses it as a hairtie."

"Well...some professionals tie their hair to have good sight of the game, it's not that weird." Oishi informed the two.

"Yeah, but ochibi wears a cap-" Kikumaru started to be finished by Momo, "wouldn't that hinder him? Plus Echizen always wears his cap all the time."

"Than maybe it's a freshman trend," Oishi suggested.

"Nya~ Oishi, ochibi's not one to go with trends," Eiji told them.

"I'll go ask the freshmen then," Momo proclaimed and dashed off towards the trio and Tomoka's table.

"Ne, is wearing a rubberband on the left ring finger a trend in your class?" Momo asked his kouhais.

"Oh, Momo-chan-senpai. Well... according to my one week fashion experience wearing a rubberband on your left ring finger is not an 'in' thing," Horio informed him in a matter-of-factly tone.

"That's true sempai, as far as I know, Sakuno is the only one I know who wears a small yellow rubberband on her left ring finger," Tomoka told him as she remembered Sakuno.

"Oh yeah, now that I think about it, Ryoma's the only person I know that wears a rubberband on his left ring finger too," Kachiro said.

Tomoka and Momo's eyes widened. It never occured to them or may be anyone else that only Ryoma and Sakuno wore a rubberband around their fingers. Delirious and quick to jump to conclusions,Tomoka thought Sakuno did the rubberband thing since she noticed that Ryoma was wearing it and never told her, the president of his fanclub, the information. Momo thought that there must be something more going on between Ryoma and Sakuno other than being best friends.

Tomoka dashed out of the cafeteria loudly shouting, "Attention all Ryoma-sama fanclub members, we have a very important emergency club meeting!"

On the other hand, Momo dashed to the regulars' table. The actions of the two left the three freshmen with a sweatdrop hanging on their heads.

"Oi,oi, Eiji-senpai, Oishi-senpai! Sakuno-chan also wears a rubberband on her left ring finger too! But the juicy detail is that only Echizen and Sakuno-chan wear it!" Momo shouted, more eager to find out about that rubber band.

"Really, nya? May be we should ask Sakuno-chan instead," Eiji suggested, Momo agreed.

During the Ryoma fanclub meeting, Tomoka proclaimed,"Alright girls, I heard that Ryoma-sama wears a rubberband on his left ring finger, therefore wearing a rubberband on your left ring finger is our new 'in'!" She slid the rubberband on her finger as the other girls did the same and cheered and squeeled:

"Oh my gosh, it matches my nails!"

"I feel closer to Ryoma-sama already!"

"I wonder if he'll notice me by wearing the bright yellow one!"

Hearing about a yellow rubberband ring reminded Tomoka about what Sakuno told her when she asked about it for the first time. Tomaka stopped, she had to ask Sakuno more about that rubberband ring.


	2. Little Sakuno's Big Flashback

Yusuki: Sorry for the wait guys!

Ed: Dammit, and that was a good break too...

Yusuki: Shut up Ed! I had to find a substitute betareader. Oh guess what?

Conan: You got your laptop

Yusuki: That's right \(.) I'll be getting a good laptop and please help me convince my dad to let me go to Texas! Ryoma

Ryoma: Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi and this plot belongs to Yusuki

Yusuki: This chapter is based on ceyrai's story 'to not regret'. In fact Ceyrai's story inspired me to write this story

* * *

During the Tennis club's practice after school, Tomoka asked Sakunothe story behind the rubberband.

"But Tomo-chan, I'm not supposed to tell," Sakuno told her quietly as she pleaded.

"C'mon Sakuno pleeeaaase tell me... I won't tell anyone," Tomoka pleaded to her bestfriend.

'But Ryoma-kun told me not to tell anybody especially senpai-tachi about it. I guess it's alright to tell Tomo since she promised not to tell'. Sakuno reasoned to herself.

"Alright ... I'll tell you, Tomo-chan," She said earning a hug from Tomoka who replied with an excited "Thank you".

"Let's see... I think it happened when I was four..." Sakuno started.

_Four- year- old Sakuno placed the small plate of brownies on her 'tea party' table. She headed downstairs toward the kitchen to get a bottle of cold Nestea._

_As she headed back to her room, she heard her grandmother say, "Sakuno-chan, I'm having some visitors over with their child, why won't you play with him a little while they're here?"_

_"Weally baa-chan? Sakuno-chan gets a pwaymate!" She cheered._

_"Yes, dear. You may go back to your room now," Sumire instructed._

_Sakuno played with her dolls as she waited as she waited, saving the brownies she made with her grandmother for her playmate. 'Ding...dong...' the doorbell rang. Sakuno ran downstairs to see her grandmother openning the door to a famile of three._

_"Long time no see, old hag!" the man shouted casually._

_On the other hand, the woman greeted, "Thank you for letting us visit in such short notice, Sumire-san."_

_"It's been a while Nanjirou, Rinko. Get in, get in," She told the group of three. She then faced Sakuno and told her, "Well... Sakuno come meet your new friend ."_

_She tentatively peeked at their guests, and saw a boy with an over-sized white cap that looked to be her age. The boy noticed her, making her immediately blush. She slowly went towards thye living room and stayed behind the security of her grandmother's leg._

_"Aww.. she's such a cute girl!" Rinko commented as she wanted to hug the toddler._

_"Yes, she is. But she gets shy easily since she never gets playmates," Sumire told Rinko then faced Sakuno once again and told her, "C'mon, Sakuno-chan I thought you wanted a playmate."_

_"That's right, Ryoma how about you play with her. I know you rather play than listen to us adults talk," Rinko told the boy._

_The two children then left towards her backyard. They played non-social games such as cloud watching and then talked a bit as they played 'touch-the-koi.' They talked about tennis since they both know about it. She later found out that Ryoma had a dream to surpass his father. Sakuno wished him luck on that; since his father was so much bigger than him. They continued to talk, the subject later changed about his cat. Sakuno wished for a kitty too...a kitty to play and spoil._

_"I'm hot," Ryoma said as the blistering sun touched it's highest point._

"Yes. You are," Tomoka interrupted out loud as Sakuno narrated.

"Ne, Tomo-chan you sure you want me to continue? Ryoma-kun's practice match is about to begin," Sakuno told her friend as she noticed the prince walk towards the courts.

"No, please continue Sakuno-chan. I want to hear about it." Tomoka insisted.

_"Ne, my room is cold, and I have a soft bed and I have brownies too," Sakuno said as she agreed to escape from the heat._

_"Then let's go to your room," Ryoma said bluntly._

_Sakuno's eyes widened, then informed him, "I can but you can't! Baa-chan told me never to let a boy in my room unless it's my husband or whatever it is."_

_Ryoma wanted to escape from the heat and take a nap. He thought of a way to get what he wanted. He remembered his stupid old man telling him that when a man marries he becomes a husband then something about a wedding night and a man's heaven before his okaa-san hit his stupid dad. He had an idea._

_"Let's get married then," He offered._

Tomoka's eyes widened, her jaw dropped, then she said, "You mean Ryoma-sama asked you to marry him!" She said almost too loudly.

"I-it's not like that Tomo-chan, we were just kids, it wasn't intentionally," Sakuno told her both hands waving in refusal or denial.

"But he still proposed to you," Tomoka told her.

_"What's 'married' mean?" The naive girl asked._

_"Hmmm... it's about the guy becoming a husband and the girl becoming a wife. Then they live together and have kids. But we need rings and an old man in front of us," Ryoma answered her as he tried to recall what happened in the weddings his okaa-san brought him to._

_Sakuno thought about it, if Ryoma was her husband, he could come to her room and play tea party anytime._

_"Alright, I'll get the rings," She agreed and ran to her room to get two yellow rubberbands to serve as rings._

_On the other hand, Ryoma interrupted the adults' conversation by trying to talk to his father._

_"Not now, boy, I'm talking," Nanjirou tried to shoo him away._

_"Oyaji, I need you to be the old guy that does my wedding," Ryoma said with a solmn face._

_"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" The shocked Nanjirou shouted with the two women gaped._

_"I want you to do my wedding," Ryoma told him seriously._

_As if on cue, Sakuno comes to Ryoma with the two rubberbands._

_"Ryoma-kun, I got the rings. What now?" Sakuno asked him._

_"Just wait, I'm asking baka oyaji to be the old man that does the wedding," Ryoma told her._

_Nanjirou looks at Sakuno with his fingers on his chin; his eyes scanned the innocent four year old._

_"Well, well, seishounen you caught quite a cutie," he commented._

_"Nanjirou, that boy of yours better not be just like you. Forcing my innocent granddaughter to marry him when they just first met," Sumire scowled at him and hugged Sakuno closer to her after recollecting herself from the shock._

_"But obaa-chan, Ryoma-kun never did force me," Sakuno defended then continued with puppy eyes, "Ryoma-kun has to be Sakuno-chan's husband so Sakuno-chan can let him in her room and play tea party."_

_"Well... I guess it's my fault for telling her that. Alright, you get my blessing to marry my Sakuno," Sumire gave in._

_"Alright, boy, I'll marry you--" Nanjirou told his son._

_"Who wants to marry baka oyaji, I want to marry Ryuzaki," Ryoma cut in._

_A vein popped on Najirou's head. He was quite vexxed then told him in an annoyed tone, "As I said, I'll marry you to Sakuno-chan, boy."_

_"Oh goodie! Let's dress you up Sakuno-chan," Rinko suggested in glee._

_The preparations were finished and the actual 'wedding ceremony' began as Rinko recorded everything._

_"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join the lives of my brat Ryoma Echizen and cute Sakuno Ryuzaki," Najirou started, only to be interrupted by Ryoma who commented, "it's to let me go to her room baka oyaji."_

_"As I was saying, if any oppose to this please speak now or forever hold your peace. Yadda yadda yadda etc. Now, seishounen, do you takeSakuno-chan as your wife through sickness and through health, to love and to hold, till death do you apart?" He said._

_"Yeah, I do," Ryoma replied then tossed the rubberband at her the told her, "Put this on."_

_"And do you, Sakuno-chan, take this brat as your lawfully wedded husband?" Nanjirou said._

_"H-hai, I do," She shyly replied and gave the ring to him._

_Suddenly, Ryoma felt an uncomfortable feeling as his father showed a sly grin._

_Nanjirou continued, "Bishounen, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." _

_Ryoma looked at Sakuno, who blushed ten fold._

_"You don't have cooties right?" He asked her._

_"Nope, I took a bath this morning," Sakuno insured him._

_He came closer to her and gently brushed his lips against hers. It was quick yet Rinko still managed to take a photo of it. Ryoma is now able to take his needed nap in his "wife's" cold room. The two were left by their guardians with Najirou giving him a wink and told him, "Congrats brat, enjoy your honeymoon."_

_After having a tea party reception or a 'snack' as Ryoma would call it. The two sat on her soft bed and talked._

_"So, you promise to visit me everytime you come here right?" Sakuno asked him._

_"Promise," Ryoma assured her the added, "Always wear the ring, kay?"_

_"Hai, as long as you wear it too," Sakuno replied._

_Ryoma yawned, showing his drowsyness. Sakuno patted her lap, motioning him to lay his head on it. The boy laid his head and soon fel asleep as she petted his soft green hair. She yawned and fell asleep._

"And that's why I kept the rubberband," Sakuno ended then watched Ryoma's match.

"KAWAII!" Tomoka squeeledthe said, "C'mon Sakuno let's cheer for Ryoma-sama!"

"It's alright, I might disturb him," Sakuno answered quietly.

"No, you won't. C'mon let's go," Tomoka told her and pulled her nearer to the courts Ryoma played in.


	3. Ryoma confirms the working tourist

Yusuki: it's been a while ne?

Conan: so how's school?

Yusuki: a bit better now, we- my procrastinating english group actually pulled an A for drama!

Ed: procrastinating= an A on drama it's sounds to weird Mazui

Yusuki: well, it helped telling them if we got an A on the group project, i'll buy them cake. Funny on how when we asked our teacher and she told us we got an A one of them was all like " We got a CAKE!" instead of an A, anyways, my blabbering aside, THIS IS DEDICATED TO MY OTHER BETAREADER, KurukiXV! Ryoma,

Ryoma: *reads from script* Even though this plot is ownde by Mazui, Konomi owns PoT

* * *

Mada mada dane. Ryoma thought as he returned another shot from Momo.

"Oi, Echizen, how about we make a little bet," Momo offered loudly from across the court.

"Don't want to," he replied returning another ball.

"You sure? The prize is gonna be a month's worth of Ponta and burgers if you win," Momo informed him.

This caught Ryoma's attention. A month's worth of his favourite beverage and burgers. It may be too good to be true.

"What about my side of the bet?" Ryoma asked in a dull turn and continued to service dash.

"If you lose, you tell me about that rubber band," Momo said preparing for a fake dunk smash.

They were neck on neck for the first half. Echizen: 3 games, Momo: 3 games. Score: deuce (40-40). Ryoma smirked, it was his service play, he threw the ball in mid-air preparing for a twist serve.

Everything was perfect, except of course a loud mouthed fan girl who shouted, "C'mon, Sakuno, cheer for your husband!"

Ryoma missed the falling ball and almost tripped forward. What was worst, everyone heard what the pig-tailed girl said and saw his reaction.

"Ne, Echizen, is that rubber band a wedding band?" Momo asked as he was unable to return a twist serve.

"Game to Echizen, 4 games to 3," the referee announced.

"Che," Ryoma told him and returned Momo's jack knife.

"Y'know Sakuno, if you weren't my bestfriend, I would have told you that you don't deserve that wedding-rubber band ring that Ryoma-sama gave you," Tomoka loudly scolded his best friend.

Ryoma's eyes widened and missed the shot.

"So, it is a wedding band," Momo said.

After many teasings from Momo and loud comments from Tomoka, Ryoma finished the match quickly and beated Momo. Now, that month's worth of Ponta and burgers are his, and he plans to sink that bastard of a friend in debt. Starting now, he turned to Momo and asked for a can of Ponta. He didn't like the fact Momo left grinning widely and the rushed interrogation by the regulars.

"Nya, nya, why didn't you tell me that you were married, ochibi?" Eiji questioned.

"Echizen, you're too young to be married. I hope you just played a board game during your honeymoon." Oishi said concern in his voice.

"Ii… data" Inui said, writing in his ever-handy notebook.

"Saa.. you did play it safe during the honeymoon with Ryuzaki, right, Ryoma." Fuji asked, a gleam in his eye.

"Nya, your wife is Ryuzaki-chan?" Eiji asked, excited about the new developments.

"Echizen, remember to never let your guard down. Especially with women." Tezuka stated stoically.

"Fshhh…" Kaidoh hissed.

Ryoma was getting a headache, his vein is about to pop and he also never expected his teammates to be as annoying as his fan girls. Momo happily approached him with his can of Ponta. He took a long stress-relief sip and decided 'to spill the beans'. He left the group and approached Sakuno, he led her back to the group of regulars by holding her wrist. He stopped right in front of them with Sakuno right beside him.

"Senpai-tachi," he said seriously, then putting up his left hand and also Sakuno's for everyone to see.

"Hoi, ochibi what's that for?" Eiji asked as he saw a clearer view of the rubber band on Ryoma's ring finger. The rubber band was artistically knotted to look like a designed ring.

"it's our, wedding ring," Ryoma said, Sakuno blushed.

"I-it was given to us from Ryoma-kun's okaa-san," Sakuno stuttered as she informed them.

"So that's why ochibi is so close to Sakuno-chan," Eiji said as if he was given an answer to a quizzical question.

"Or why Sakuno-chan always makes him a bento," Momo added.

"Or why she rushes to him when he gets hurt," Oishi added.

"There is also a great percentage towards Echizen rescuing Ryuzaki-san," Inui informed.

"Saa… but when did you and Sakuno-chan marry, Echizen," Fuji asked him.

"They married each other when he first visited the old hag, I think he was four then," Nanjirou answered out of nowhere.

"Oyaji," Ryoma murmured.

All the regulars turned around, only to see a monk in black while more informed ones such as Tezuka and Inui saw the great tennis legend Nanjirou Echizen.

"IT'S YOU!" Momo exclaimed and pointed at Nanjirou. "You broke my bike!" He added.

Ignoring Momo's accusation, he faced his son and told him,"Oi, seishounen, did you forget that you're mother wants you to join picking her up at the airport." Noticing Sakuno, he added, "Oh, Sakuno-chan she also wants me to invite you to come and stay for dinner."

Sakuno looked at him a bit more at ease to talk. "Hai"

"I'm changing," Ryoma informed his father and headed to the changing room.

"Ne, Momo-chan, have you seen ochibi's mama?" Eiji asked Momo quizzically as he wondered.

"No, I haven't. Ne, Inui-senpai, do you have an idea how Echizen's mom looks like?" Momo answered.

"There' is no data on Rinko Echizen, but I have a lot of data on the samurai Nanjirou Echizen, Ryoma's father," Inui answered.

Nanjirou's ear twitched upwards, then butted in with a weird accent,"Eh, I'm no Nanjirou Echizen. I am just a working tourist. But I did hear he's very handsome and his wife is sexy too."

"So, you're finally denying your relation to me," Ryoma said as he approached him, already changed in his school uniform.

"C'mon Echizen-san, your mother waits." Nanjirou told Ryoma in his weird accent as he continued to pretend.

Nanjirou climbed in his car. Ryoma and Sakuno followed. The other regulars also followed and Nanjirou noticed.

"Hey, why are you guys coming?" Nanjirou asked a bit annoyed.

"I –we– we want to see Ochibi's mama," Eiji whined.

"Practice isn't over yet," Oishi reasoned.

"Saa… that's right, Echizen can't go yet because practice isn't over, unless we come with him." Fuji added, Momo and Eiji nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah, who's gonna bring you there?" Nanjirou retorted.

"YOU ARE! You bike destroyer," Momo shouted.

"Like I would!" Nanjirou retorted.

"Oyaji, okaa-san's going to be angry if you're late," Ryoma plainly stated, already sitting beside Sakuno.

"Okay, okay, we're going," Nanjirou said.

"Sorry, bike crasher, but you aren't taking Echizen without us," Momo said.

Nanjirou thought about it, if he was late upon picking up his wife, it would definitely mean good bye to his precious magazines. His magazines do cost more than three mere cabs.

"Alright, let me call two more cabs," he said, giving in.

"Woohoo!" Eiji exclaimed.

After the arrival of two cabs, they left the school building to Narita Airport.


	4. She puts the 'law' in mother in law

Yusuki: Sorry for the delay! I'm part perfectionist (I know, it doesn't make sense, it's like part time perfectionist) so I was really busy re-uploading my new one-shot 'Graduation Regrets' again and again. I do hope I'm making up from procrastination.

Ed: Get on with it.

Conan: Yu-chan left so I'll cover for her. **kouhai** means underclassman. Echizen-san?

Ryoma: Yusuki doesn't own Prince of Tennis nor the copyrighted name brands. Mada Mada Dane

* * *

"The wheels on the car go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the car go round and round, all through the town!" Eiji sang merrily as Nanjirou drove. "C'mon Momo, Ochibi, let's sing!" He told his younger teammates.

"No way," Ryoma answered quickly.

"Eiji-senpai, isn't it too childish to do that?" Momo whined a bit.

"You guys are meanies," Eiji pouted then continued to sing in his merry tune, "Ochibi's mama's coming back, coming back, coming back. Ochibi's mama's coming back, here in Japan!"

"Picking her up from Narita Airport, Narita Airport, Narita Airport. Picking her up from Narita Airport in terminal-" Eiji sang again, only to come to a halt. "Ne, Ochibi's otou-san, which terminal do we pick up Ochibi's okaa-san from?" He asked Nanjirou.

"Three," Nanjirou answered automatically.

"Picking her up from Narita Airport, Narita Airport, Narita Airport. Picking her up from Narita Airport, in terminal three!" Eiji sang louder. "One more time!" Eiji announced merrily.

"This is going to be a long ride," Momo muttered.

(o) (o) (o)

After two hours on the road from Seishun Gakuen to the airport, Nanjirou led everyone to the pick-up area in terminal three.

"So, what does your mom look like, Echizen?" Momo asked his kouhai.

"Hmmm... she looks probably like Sakuno-chan but older, and she wears her hair in a neat bun," Nanjirou answered for his son as Ryoma just continued to look for his mother.

"Mother," He muttered as soon as he saw a familiar middle aged woman.

All the regulars, including Nanjirou looked at Ryoma's direction of view. There, Rinko Echizen was, standing in the middle of the pick up area looking around. Her russet hair put in a neat bun with the help of her silver hair clip; she was wearing a white blouse, a gray pencil skirt and a blazer in the same grey tone as she held her suitcase and a small black rolling luggage. She turned around as if Ryoma's quiet mutter was a loud call. She gave a small smile and approached them.

"There you are," she told her husband after receiving a welcoming embrace from him, she then continued, "and I thought Ryoma and I would've had a campfire and s'mores by your erotic magazines."

"Aw, don't be like that Rinko, you know I would do anything to save my- I mean, welcome you back," Nanjirou told her.

Rinko didn't bother upon what her husband just said as she directed to the pair consisting of her son and her 'daughter-in-law'.

"Ryoma, dearest, I've missed you so much! Sakuno, darling, it's been a while, how are you?" Rinko exclaimed.

"Missed you too, mother," Ryoma quietly told her.

"I'm doing well, thank you, and yes, it has been a while, auntie," Sakuno told her.

"Anyways, you two could not believe that I found the perfect souvenirs for the both of you!" Rinko told them excitedly.

"Thanks mom, but how was the case?" Ryoma questioned, trying to sway away from the souvenir topic.

"It was great, dear. Egypt was so beautiful and I won the case as usual. Back to the topic, Sakuno, you have to stay for dinner and try the beautiful-" Rinko informed him then talked only to Sakuno.

"Uh, Mrs. Echizen, why were you on a case in Egypt?" Inui asked her, halting to write more notes.

"May be she's a detective," Eiji suggested.

"Psst... Echizen, is your mom part of a yakuza clan? You know, she was on a case because she did something against the law in Egypt?" Momo whispered to Ryoma.

"No, it's for business purposes," Ryoma answered.

"I'm sorry but may I ask who all of you are?" Rinko asked.

"Mother, this is the Seigaku regulars," Ryoma introduced.

"Kunimitsu Tezuka, team captain, third year," Tezuka started.

"Shuichiro Oishi, the team's vice-captain, also a third year. Nice to meet you," Oishi introduced himself.

"Nya! Nya! My name's Eiji Kikumari, nice to meet you! I'm a third year and part of Seigaku's golden pair with Oishi!" Eiji informed her.

"My name is Sadaharu Inui, third year and the team's current trainer. The one with sandy hair is our prodigy Syuusuke Fuji, also a third year. The one with the green bandana is Kaoru Kaidoh, a second year. The one next to Echizen is-" Inui introduced.

"Takeshi Momoshiro, second year and Echizen's closest senpai. Please call me Momo-chan," Momo interrupted.

"Hey!" Eiji exclaimed as soon as Momo announced that he was the closest senpai to their Ochibi.

"My name is Takashi Kawamura, third year. Nice to meet you ma'am, and you could call me Taka-san for short." Taka introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, and thank you for taking care of my son. My name is Rinko Echizen, Ryoma's mother. Please join us for dinner, it should make up for being bothered to come," she told them.

"Being bothered to come? Please, they bothered me to come," Nanjirou muttered.

"As for you question Inui-san, I am a lawyer and my client happens to be a close friend of mine. She was visiting her hometown, Cairo, when she was conned for 500,000 yen. The suspect or defendant gave a very convincing story that he never did con her, the judge decided for the two of them not to leave the country. She called me to help her win the case, in which I did," Rinko explained.

"So that's probably where Echizen got his smarts from-" Momo commented.

"What does that mean?" Nanjirou asked in a vexed tone.

"You know very well what it means, you bike destroyer," Momo retorted.

"Kids these days... they don't know how to respect their elders," Nanjirou muttered.

"So, that means Ochibi must get his skills in tennis from his otou-san," Eiji thought out loud.

Knowing that Ryoma is the son of the former pro, Nanjirou Echizen, they all sweat dropped.

"Nanjirou, the sooner we head home, the sooner Sakuno-chan and Ryoma can try on my souvenirs!"

They all left the building and waited for Nanjirou to bring his car to them, Rinko called for two cabs for the rest of the regulars. The two cabs arrived right after Nanjirou did. Ryoma, Rinko, and Sakuno automatically went in Nanjirou's car, followed by the two previous passengers, Momo and Eiji. Kaidoh, Inui and Oishi filled up the first cab. Taka and Fuji climbed into the next.

"Huh? There's one seat left? Where are we going to sit?" Eiji asked.

"Well, one of us should just ride with the others and one of us ride with Ryuzaki-chan and the Echizens," Momo suggested.

"Or how about both of you use the cab, this car is only for the four of us; Sakuno-chan, the brat, my wife and I," Nanjirou suggested rudely.

Tezuka, who chose to enter a cab last to ensure the safety and well-being of the regulars, then said, "I apologize, Mr. Echizen, for my teammates' rude behaviour. I assure you that they will be more respectful starting now and appreciate the ride you generously let us use."

Without talking back, Momo and Eiji walked over to the two cabs followed by their captain. Momo went in the cab containing Fuji and Taka, Eiji followed, only to be stopped by Momo.

"Senpai, even though we're partners in crime in hooking up Ryuzaki-chan and Echizen, which they unexpectedly are, I cannot stand to listen to your travel songs than... than..." Momo told him as he thought of a good comparison.

"Than a day without fighting with Kaidoh or a day stuck with him?" Eiji suggested, unaffected by what Momo told him.

"Exactly!" Momo agreed.

"Fine, I'll just ride with Oishi," Eiji told him and headed towards the other car.

Tezuka rode with Taka, Fuji, and Momo as the cars started to drive away. After arriving, Nanjirou took care of the cab's fare and Rinko's luggage. On the other hand, the rest followed Rinko towards their home.

"I'm home!" She announced.

"Welcome back, auntie," Nanako greeted her.

"It's good to be back," she replied.

"Nanako, did you check the mail box? I was supposed to receive something today." Nanjirou asked.

"Shame on you uncle! All the while I thought you were excited because auntie is coming back but to be excited for this?" Nanako scolded as she waved one of Nanjirou's magazines.

"Oh, so it did arrive!" Nanjirou exclaimed, making Nanako a bit angrier that her scolding was not heard. Oblivious to Nanako's angry and vexed expression, he continued, "now, be a good girl, Nanako and hand it to me."

"Nanako, dear, calm down. You should know what to do with that," Rinko instructed.

Nanako took two deep breaths and calmly walked to the kitchen as she said, "Of course auntie, it can replace coal for the grilled fish and eel."

"B-but Nanako-chan, that is _Playboy'_s super rare, super exclusive and special edition!" Nanajirou exclaimed, his tone full of whine.

"Please don't mind him, is it okay for me to show Ryoma and Sakuno their souvenirs as you wait for dinner?" Rinko asked the regulars.

"Sure, we don't mind seeing it, Mrs. Echizen." Fuji answered on behalf of the team.

"That's great! Please make yourselves at home while I prepare some tea. Ryoma, go get your ring container," Rinko now instructed the rest of them.

"As Ryoma left to fetch the said container, the regulars and Sakuno took a spot to sit in the living room. Rinko came in with a tray of tea cups and a teapot holding Oolong tea. She then opened her suitcase to get some kind of _Tiffany & Co._ ring box. Ryoma came back with his own ring container.

"As you all know, Ryo-chan and Sakuno here are 'married'," She informed them.

"No, ma'am, we didn't know they were," Fuji lied.

"You mean you didn't know?" Rinko asked.

"Nope, all we knew was Echizen and Ryuzaki-chan are close friends," Momo added, catching onto Fuji's scheme.

As Ryoma or Sakuno was about to protest, Nanjirou covered their mouths and whispered to the couple, "Shh. Just don't talk, let her have fun."

Therefore, the two young ones obeyed.

"Well, I have to tell you the whole story then," Rinko told them excitedly as she left to get one of Ryoma's photo album and a VCR tape titled: _Ryo-chan and Sakuno-chan's wedding._


	5. His parents' wierd collections

**Ed: **I thought you died, WHY ARE YOU here?

**Yusuki: **Cuz I couldn't stay away from you guys! I finished my geo ISU and I'm hoping to do some exam reviews then I remembered, ' oh shoot, I haven't given them a pre-exam gift like last time! the OLS chapter is ready for publishing too!'

**Conan: **-sigh- Well just make sure you study for your exams, fanfiction shouldn't be your main priority.

**Yusuki: **Kay. Well I just want to say, that right after this I am so writing the omake for Seigaku Party and Mikan's Song. By the way, **I'm considering into deleting 'A fated Encounter' So please tell me if I should continue and unravel a story for you or delete the two unnecessary prologues. **Ryoma?

**Ryoma:** Mazui does not own Prince of Tennis, Konomi does.

* * *

Rinko fed the tape to the VCR player. Once the blue screen turned into images of the past, she sat with the rest of Ryoma's teammates.

"_Awww... look how cute she is, Ryuzaki-san!" A female voice exclaimed as the camera directed to a four-year old brunette._

"Aww...," most of the regulars said as they saw the mini bride.

_Sakuno was wearing a white sundress with her matching white doll shoes. She was holding white daises with her laced gloves._

"_Sakuno! Don't forget something old—check!" Ryuzaki-sensei said after looking at the child's dress. "Something new—," she said as she pulled out a mini veil made out of a white headband and a white translucent cloth._

"Oh, I remember making that!" Rinko gasped. "Sakuno, dear don't you still have it?" She asked the female brunette.

Sakuno nodded.

"I still have it somewhere," she muttered.

_The young Sakuno marched down the aisle as the 'Here comes the bride' was hummed by Sumire and Rinko. At the very end of their made up aisle, young Ryoma stood straight and looked at his 'bride-to-be'. The scenery moved away from the couple. It seemed that the rest of the congregation were stuffed animals and dolls. The focus then directed back to the young pair._

It was no surprise to the rest of the regulars that Ryoma's outfit consisted of a polo shirt, shorts and tennis shoes. Surprisingly, the romantically disabled boy looked at his bride with a small smile.

"_Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join the lives of my brat Ryoma Echizen and cute Sakuno Ryuzaki." A younger version of Nanjirou bellowed._

_The young Ryoma had muttered immediately a faint, "it's to let me go to her room, baka oyaji."_

The regulars raised their brows to Ryoma, upon hearing this, Momo and Eiji snickered. Fuji gave his ever knowing, sadistic smile.

"Why'd you want to go to Ryuzaki-chan's room, Ryoma?" He asked.

Both Eiji and Momo backed the statement with a 'yeah'. Ryoma, who completely objected to watching the video, tugged his cap's bill and looked away.

"_As I was saying, if any oppose to this, please speak now or forever hold your peace. Yatta, yatta, yatta, etc. Now, Seishounen, do you take Sakuno-chan as your wife, through sickness and in health, to love and to hold, like peanut butter and jelly, in happiness and through sorrow, like a ball—" Najirou ranted, interrupted by one of the 'guests' hitting his heads. "Ow... that hurts y'know," he directed at the camera. _

"_For goodness sake's Nanjirou. Just stop babbling and hurry up!" Sumire scolded. _

_Ignoring the old hag's scolding, Nanjirou resumed. He looked at his son, expecting him, a toddler, to know what to do._

"_Yeah, I do." Ryoma vowed._

_He took out one of the rubber band ring and gave it to Sakuno, whispering what seemed like instructions. Sakuno took the rubber band from her new friend and put it on._

"_And do you, Sakuno-chan, take this brat as your lawfully wedded husband?" The older Echizen asked in a monotone voice._

"_Y-y-yes, I do," the young girl stuttered. _

_She gave the ring for the boy to wear. Soon the 'priest' broke his dull face into a Cheshire cat's grin._

The other regulars (mostly Eiji and Momo) grinned, knowing what lies next, Sakuno hid her red face while Ryoma simply face-palmed.

"_Bishounen, you may now kiss the bride." He stated._

_The camera zoomed in to the front, following a dashing Rinko. The view settles from a blurry scene of knocked off teddy bears from the make-shift front row. The boy toddler was hesitant once again. He faced his bride._

"_You don't have cooties right?" he asked._

_The little girl bobbed her head. _

"_Nope, I took a bath this morning," She assured him proudly._

_Ryoma took hold of her cheeks, inching it closer to him._

Momo and Eiji who was very pro-RyoSaku moved closer to the screen.

_In a flash, his lips touched hers and moved away. A clicking sound and a flash originated from Rinko and her camera._

"It's so CUTE!" Eiji exclaimed.

The screen soon turned blue as the tape was ejected.

"So, does anyone want to see photos?" She asked them.

"Sure!" Eiji and Momo exclaimed, almost too excitedly.

"We'd love to," Fuji once again said on behalf of the team.

Rinko opened a dark green photo album. The first page was what looked like Ryoma and Sakuno's "honeymoon". It was young Ryoma resting his head on his "wife's" lap while Sakuno also took some shut eye. Somehow, the scene reminded the regulars about how their rookie would take a nap near the the courts while Sakuno cleans up the bento boxes during their lunch break.

Rinko turned the page and introduced the pictures. "This was Sakuno-chan's first time in America when they were five." The first picture was a stolen shot of Sakuno and Ryoma hugging—well... mostly Sakuno hugging Ryoma at the airport.

Most of the regulars smiled, Eiji "awed" and Momo simply repeated "young love, young love."

The second one looked like the Echizen residence. Ryoma was pointing his racket at a baffled Sakuno challenging the confused girl for a match.

Eiji, Fuji, Taka and Momo chuckled.

The third picture was actually a beach scene; the two were building a sand castle. Once again, the 'awes' took place.

The last photo had a "third wheel". It was most likely taken at Disneyworld, seeing a Cinderella cosplayer took a picture of Sakkuno who was dressed up as Cinderella and Ryoma who looked like a mini Indiana Jones.

This time, Rinko giggled. The rest looked at her in curiosity.

"I remember this," she said. "Sakuno practically dragged Ryoma to go to Cinderella's castle after his fun at Disney Studios. They dressed her up as Cinderella, while Ryoma preferred to be Indiana Jones than some prince charming. I asked one of the princesses to take a picture with them. She agreed and gave small talk. She said, 'and who might you be, princess?' Sakuno hid behind Ryoma. 'My name is Sakuno, Ms. Cinderella,' she said. The princess took a look at Ryoma asking if he's her brother. Sakuno-chan just shook her head cutely. 'No, he's my husband!' She said proudly, 'see!' She showed her little ring. At first the lady was shocked and appalled. Then she just ignored it, in fact, she found it adorable. I mean, who wouldn't when a five year old tells you about her spouse proudly." She shared.

Eiji and Oishi harmonized an 'aww' as the rest of the regulars inwardly chuckled.

Rinko once again turned the page. This time, it was introduced as _Ryoma's second visit in Japan (age 6). _It seemed to be during the Christmas season for the Christmas decor was in almost every picture. The first one looked like the Echizen family including Sakuno celebrating Ryoma's birthday. He was blowing out the candles of his cake while the others surrounded him as if giving him encouragement. The next picture was the two children opening up their presents. It looked as if they were surprised, wanting to expect something other than annual rings from Rinko. The third picture contained Sakuno acting in a play.

This time the young couple reacted. Ryoma seemed to stare intently at the two last pictures. Suspecting his teammates would notice, he quickly pulled down the bill of his cap. Sakuno on the other hand was both embarrassed and slightly fumed as she remembered the events. The rest couldn't help but simply observe. They didn't understand why Ryoma and Sakuno acted that way. That is of course if you didn't count Fuji who looked at the rest of the pictures.

"Oh, I see. You were jealous weren't you Echizen?" Fuji asked as he looked up at the young teenager.

"Jealous? Hah!" Nanjirou answered instead. "The boy was practically the green-eyed monster! Why, if looks could kill, the other boy would've been dead by now."

The rest of the regulars soon looked at the fourth picture for an explanation. It was another group of three. The scene was in the backstage of the play. Sakuno was wearing a lovely pink tutu accepting the yellow daisies. It was given by a brunette boy wearing a nutcracker soldier costume. While Ryoma was on her other side facing away; his arms crossed with a scowl on his face. It was quickly understood that he was mad, infuriated and jealous.

"You're right Fujiko, Ochibi is jealous," Eiji commented.

"So, what happened?" Momo asked.

"Well... after Sakuno accepted the flowers, she hugged the boy. Ryoma broke tha hug and insulted the boy," Rinko told them.

"The brat said, 'tch, only sissy boys go around in tights doing sissy ballet'." Nanjirou added.

Eiji snickered as he remembered Oishi participating in the ballet club to distract Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Y'know, Shin-kun moved away after that. I never got to see him again." Sakuno told Ryoma, a small hint of cold daggers still lingered in her eyes.

"Tch," Ryoma grunted.

Rinko turned the next pages consecutively, only giving the regulars a small amount of time to take a look.

"Oh, the pictures from ages 7-9 are kind of a documentary of their first fight. Sakuno can really hold a grudge after what Ryoma said about one of her first friends. They ignored each other for two years, even if they still visited one another. It was like watching a divorced couple visiting for child custody. Thank goodness, Ryoma stopped being stubborn for once and apologized to her. It's such a good thing that I have such a forgiving daughter-in-law." Rinko explained as she glanced at Sakuno.

She stopped at the last pages of the section called '_age 9_'.

It was only one picture of them hugging~ this time Ryoma seemed to hug back. The setting looked like a park in Japan. Assuming there were no cherry blossom trees in America.

"Ryoma finally put away his ego and pride when we visited Sakuno-chan. So, he apologized about his rude comment 2-3 years ago." Rinko explained.

Momo simply grinned as he thought of Ryoma (the arrogant, cocky brat) apologizing.

She turned the page once again. This time, the page was not only titled with the age but the event title included. _'Wimbledon—age 10'. _A bunch of side pictures of the match was present. There was one with the two sharing some fries. There was these other three of Ryoma offering his cup to Sakuno; she just drinks it. The next picture was both of them (mostly Ryoma) intently watching the match. The last was the two standing and cheering.

Rinko was about to flip the page once again. Until Eiji saw something about Sakuno's left ring finger.

"Uhh... Mrs. Echizen, how come Sakuno-chan's ring is different from the one now?" He questioned.

"Glad you asked that, Eiji-kun," Rinko told him.

She looked at Ryoma and instructed him to hand in the box he brought earlier. The young lad did what he was told.

"You see, I took it upon myself to give them a different ring every anniversary. The very first one was an origami ring and they kept on ruining it during the first day so I made a rule. The rule was to wear their original rubber band ring a month before their anniversary. So this is Ryoma's, it's a bit rugged since he keeps on playing tennis none stop." She explained as she took the lid off.

It was divided into many ring-sized squares; the first being empty. Ryoma took off his rubber band ring and placed it in the first slot. Following the action, the linen ring was put on.

"As you know, the one Ryoma put back was the rubber band ring. The one to its right is the 1st anniversary origami paper ring. The one next to it is the 2nd year anniversary cotton ring." It was a twisted piece of cotton formed into a ring. "Sakuno's is styled differently. Right next to that is the 3rd anniversary leather ring." It was simply a strip of leather sewn from one end to another forming a ring. "Sakuno's is also styled differently. The ring beneath the rubber band is their 4th anniversary flower seed ring." The seeds glued from end to end into a ring. "Ryoma actually couldn't wait to take it off while Sakuno-chan liked the design of hers. On its right is their 5th anniversary wooden ring." It was a simple wooden band. "Last year's anniversary was celebrated with wool rings—," Rinko ranted and was soon cut off by Nanako.

"Auntie, could you please taste this new dish? I don't know if I cooked the eel properly," She said all the way from the kitchen.

"Excuse me, children," Rinko said as she left and headed towards Nanako.

"Eh? I never knew Ochibi liked to collect these kinds of stuff," Eiji exclaimed.

Clearly, he was too busy with the chibi RyoSaku pictures to listen to Rinko's ranting.

"I don't; I'm only keeping this because of my mom," Ryoma explained bluntly.

"Yeah, I also keep it because auntie wanted us to take care of every single ring. If not, I would have lost it by now." Sakuno added.

"Kids, time for dinner!" Rinko's voice called out.

Everyone soon headed for the dining room with the thought of the next HOWS meeting in Momo, Eiji and Fuji's minds.

* * *

**Author's notes**

**(none at the moment, it seems clear for me that no questions would be made. Simply ask me if you don't understand anything and I apologize for the awkward ranting or that this may seem like chapter 2. I'll work extra hard on chapter 6)  
**


	6. HOW'S the planning going on?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis. Any mentions of other characters or products belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

Much to Ryoma's pleasure, his teammates left right after dinner and right before he escorted Ryuzaki back to her home.

"Uh huh; yes Sonoko, we expect all of you to be there." Fuji said as he talked to one of their schoolmates on his phone. Pausing, he answered once again, "It's absolutely mandatory for the main HOWS members to attend this emergency meeting."

He and the other regulars walked to Penguin Park. Though all of them stayed on one side of the narrow sidewalk, Momoshiro and Eiji continued to crowd the genius and his phone.

Unable to take the anxiety anymore, Momo grabbed his friend's phone and talked to his upperclassman. "Look Fujioka-senpai, apparently Echizen and Ryuzaki-chan are already together. W-well not 'together' together but they're closer than we thought. We just need to give them a little push."

"Yeah, so we have to start planning about our next move!" Eiji butted, grabbing Fuji's phone from Momo. "We'll meet you girls at Penguin Park right now. Oh, you will? Okay, bye-bye!" He ended with a grin.

The male regulars waited by the king penguin slide for about five minutes until twin second-years arrived.

"We've heard from Sonoko-senpai and rushed here as fast as possible," the blue-haired one said as she and her sister tried to catch their breath.

"Geez… that was worse than Imai-senpai's training plans." The pink haired one huffed.

"That was fast, I would have though you—well one of you girls would have gotten here by fifteen minutes at least," Oishi commented.

"We live fifteen minutes away," the pink-haired one confessed. "But we ran here the moment Sonoko-senpai said Sakuno-chan is together with Echizen-san," continued the blue-haired girl.

"Well, glad you came Eisuki-chan and Momoka-chin," Eiji welcomed brightly.

Suddenly, another girl arrived using a hovering duck scooter.

"It's incredibly efficient but I do wish she would have sent me something that doesn't look this ridiculous," she muttered.

"Imai-senpai!" Eisuki exclaimed as she ran to the raven-haired girl, who is currently taking off her white helmet.

As Momoka followed her older sister, she noticed her upperclassman's way of transportation.

"What is that?" She asked, trying to hide a tone of disgust and not to gawk.

"My cousin sent this to me. She said that this is the better way to travel," she answered in an uncaring tone.

Soon, a limousine stopped in-front of them.

"Look, they've already arrived and it only took them 10 minutes after Fujioka's call. She better have that thousand yen and some crab legs." Imai muttered.

A pixie-haired girl got out of the limo with the help of her chauffeur. She was followed by a sandy-haired girl with blue eyes and a blonde girl with her hair in a high ponytail.

The sandy-haired girl smiled as she looked around, mentally counting each person present.

"Good, looks like everyone's here except for two," she began.

Right after she finished her mid-sentence, another girl appeared. She had black hair, parted into two at the right side of her face. Unlike her teammates, she did not have bangs, though her wavy hair is simply placed into a low ponytail. She was wearing a light blue scoop-neck shirt with bell sleeves and a white skirt that ended at her knees. However, her outfit was covered by a red plaid apron.

"I'm sorry I'm late, but there was this child whose parents were working overtime and I just can't leave her alone." She puffed, clearly exhausted from her run.

"It's okay Shizuka-nee-san," Eisuki smiled. "That Kujyou brat isn't here yet." Her sister added in a slightly irritated tone.

The whole group waited for another ten minutes. During their wait, the young men realized the newcomers' outfits and waiting habits. The two arrivals, Momoka and Eisuki Kirini stuck with Shizuka, happily conversing with her. They wore matching outfits just as how twins are often depicted: purple tank tops and v-neck shirts matching their respective hair colours. They both wore khaki knee shorts and simple flats that matched their "older sister's". They have curly shoulder-length hair which parted at the middle and purple eyes.

Speaking of purple eyes, the weird one, Imai had them too. She has long black hair with bangs just like a doll. She sat on her weird duck/scooter contraption, typing away on a small white net book with a box of crab legs by her side. From the reflection of her glasses, it looked like some word document. She dressed simply: a three-quarter sleeved purple sweater, white capris and black toms.

Imai may look busy but the small-figured, pixie-haired girl has got her beaten. She was pacing back and forth, obviously worrying her chauffeur. She wore a black blazer with a white blouse underneath. Her look was finished with a black dress skirt and black mary-janes. She continued to talk through her blue tooth about something on convincing a company to give up. Professional she may look, but Eiji wondered about her hair. _Was it fixed into blond spikes like his or did it get messy after the whole day? _She closed her onyx eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was too tired for this. She then walked over to her two companions.

Sonoko and Kawari had strolled over to the swings. Both wore jeans and simple fitted blue shirts. They stopped chatting and looked up to their friend. The brunette, Sonoko, had light blue eyes while Kawari had green eyes and dirty blonde hair. They gave their friend a hug before taking away her blue tooth and smart phone. The smaller girl protested, while they simply gave her a smile and told her that it would only take a short while.

Finally, they heard small steps approaching the entrance of the park. There stood a small girl with a bobbed-hair style, one side longer than the other tied by a green ribbon with white polka dots. She approached the Imai-girl while hugging a teddy bear half her size.

"Sorry, I'm late…" the girl yawned. "I tried my best to get here as fast as I could. But I kept dozing off and lost my way."

The girl fell back to sleep, using Imai as support. Taking notice of her outfit, the others knew why. The girl sported pink sheep pyjamas a size too big for her under what seems like a fluffy pink robe and bunny slippers. Momoka, the blue-haired twin, muttered something to her sister. Apparently, the appearance of the new-comer irritated her.

"Well, since Karin-chan's here, let's start the meeting." Sonoko said.

"Ne, senpai, shouldn't we wake her up first?" Momoshiro asked, tentatively pointing to the sleeping girl.

"Yeah, it's disrespectful for everyone if Kujyou slept through the whole meeting." Momoka added.

"I'm listening with my eyes closed, stupid. I just don't want to get nightmares of you." The little girl quietly mumbled in a harsh tone.

Before Momoka could retort, her sister covered the girl's mouth with her hand.

After a while of Momoka's ramblings, Sonoko continued to talk. "Now, what do you boys know about Echizen-san and Sakuno?"

"Well, they're married." Oishi answered. Realizing most of the girls' shocked faces; he added, "Well not 'married' married but they are childhood friends who had a pretend wedding supported by his parents and Ryuzaki-sensei."

"Hmmm…interesting," Suzuki Imai commented. "The question is no longer: 'how can we get them together?' They obviously did that already by themselves."

"I think they just need a little push," added Shizuka.

"Aah, yes. The present question is: 'what do we do now?'" Fuji said.

"Personally, I believe that we should just leave the two alone. Let them figure out their relationship on their own." The pixie-haired girl, Temari, said.

"Tsk, tsk, Temari-chan, even Tezuka-buchou knows that that isn't an option here at HOWS." Eiji told her. "We are the primary members of the 'Hooking up Ochibi With Sakuno' team. We do not leave them or their relationship alone at all. We try to get them to realize their feelings, profess their love and live their passion for one another. In order for this to take place, we must meddle with their lives. REALIZE, PROFESS, and LIVE! We are proud supporters of this pairing and we will go down with this ship!" He finished his 'motivational' speech.

Momo, nodded in agreement through it all.

Temari looked at Sonoko with a questioning look: _what is up with him?_ Her friend simply shrugged: _I don't know._ Her chauffeur whispered words to her, reminding her of an upcoming appointment.

"Well, since I have to drop-off Sonoko and Kawari, we better hurry up. I have an appointment with father." She told them

"Then we give them amusement park tickets for a date! It always works in anime!" Eiji suggested.

"Yes! We could get them to admit their feelings in the Ferris Wheel! At the same time have a great time playing around!" Eisuki agreed. "Plus, Imai-senpai could get us something to use for eavesdropping!"

"Ooh, I've always wanted to go on that new ride," Momoka said excitedly.

"Too temporary. There is also an eighty percent chance Echizen would find us out." Inui said.

"We have a family life course." Kaidoh said.

"That's right. I forgot about that. We all placed family life as our elective next year." Taka said. "Uh, everyone, I'm really sorry but I have to go. My dad would probably need my help by now. Just tell me about it tomorrow, okay?"

Everyone nodded with approval. Taka soon left the park.

"Listen, Fuji. I also have to go. You know how my grandmother worries. Frankly, I care very little about this. I agree with Temari Kouzuki-san's previous comment. Whatever it may be in the end, I'm sure you'd tell me." Tezuka said, following Taka.

"We could get Kururugi-sensei to do a special course for us." Kaidoh continued.

"Well, would you look at that, even Mamushi gets a good idea every now and then," Momo practically praised with a teasing grin.

"That's right! We could convince Kururugi-sensei!" The twins volunteered in unison.

"Someone would need to find a venue for this." Karin added drowsily.

"How do we pay for it?" Imai pointed out.

"Is this even legal? Do we actually get a course credit?" Shizuka asked.

"We should have at least asked for a spare then." Oishi said.

"I'll try to convince the principal." Inui offered.

"I'll go with you just in case." Temari said. "We have two minutes left." She reminded Kawari and Sonoko.

"Alright, so our to-do list is to convince the principal and Kururugi-sensei, get funds, find a remote place, and get all tennis members or at least all the regulars to participate." Sonoko summarized.

"Well then, this plan would commence after this weekend. Think of ways to act through it." Fuji told everyone.

After agreeing, everyone separated on their own ways.

* * *

**Author's Notes  
**

Personally, I find this the most unbearable chapter I've written. What do you think? I'd appreciate honest answers because i'm not tying to pick up compliments. -.-' Alright, so let's start with Q&A.**  
**

**Oh my goodness, why oh why would you create like 8 new characters?! I hate out-characters and 'Mary Sue's!  
**Trust me, I don't like out-characters that much either. I lose interest on a fanfic with out-characters. But I feel like boys wouldn't be interested in planning these kinds of things (referring to the one in the story) no matter how un-realistically they meddle with Ryoma's love life. **I will slowly ease them into the story** and hopefully you won't mind them as much. As per the Mary Sue problem, I hope you (the readers) would be able **to inform me when they are acting like Mary Sues** because I will make sure they don't.

**You're back!  
**I know! I'm sorry for making you all wait for so long :C

**All right, Let's start easing us into these new characters of yours... Ugh.  
**Let's look at this positively, okay? I will begin with the two most involved ones. You can all access their pictures at my profile page links :) Meet **Momoka** and **Eisuki Kirini.  
**

**Momoka Kirini **(written with given name first) is the younger twin of Eisuki. She is the most mature and serene out of all the second-year girl regulars. She is also one of Sakuno's close senpai-tachi in the girl team. Momoka, often nicknamed 'Moka' claims to hate Karin Kujyo, a fellow team member and classmate. She also plays doubles with her sister. The contrast in their hair colour is a very big and dead give away.

**Eisuki Kirini **is the pink headed one of the two. Though she is the older one, she often acts like the younger of the two. She always has a hyperactive disposition and is often optimistic. Eisuki is great friends with her childhood 'onee-san' Shizuka and is very attached to her sister and best friend.


End file.
